In the end I have decided the Chayote Squash Pork Soup is no for me. In fact, I find it vile! LOL. DH always find it hilarious when I find a food vile as he finds many foods vile and I am such an omnivore. This is an anomaly for sure. But I don't like sweet with meat. So, this soup is out.

Credit for weighing this morning: 278. Is ok. We went with DH's work to the basketball game and they "feed" you there-snacky finger food things. I was very hungry had several chicken fingers, but only 1 sl of pretty good pizza some raw veg and 6 sushi. Not too bad, oh and a small popcorn. Still not bad as I had restricted calories all day. I did not make the green juice inspite of having all the ingredients so this morning that's priority number one as I am out of the house for the day and want to bring my juice with me.

Speaking of which, I'd better go. It will be time to leave soon enough.

Yesterday was demolish day for the powder room. We took photos last night so DH has a record of where all the pipes and wires are. I did a bit better with mood and accomplishments and expect today to be better still.

dailypractice: love your reflection on "Give yourself credit" -- that's exactly how it works for me!
I'm also resistant to the idea of no snacks. I recently managed to change to "2 small snacks or 1 larger snack." And that's helping. I'm very much aware of an emotional attachment to my afternoon snacks. I can go hungry all morning and channel it into energy for my projects, but in the late afternoon, I'm afraid things might go really haywire if I don't have a planned snack.

onebyone: did you like the Chayote squash? Perhaps that soup would work for you if you left out the dates and added some spices instead.

Morning
My dd took today off so I will meet her for lunch and a bit of shopping. I have already looked at the menu online and have a plan in place. Adjusting my supper to reflect a higher calorie lunch. Credit
See how many steps I'll get in with shopping. I usually do pretty well.
Brought some clay home to handbuilding some birdfeeders. That will keep my hands busy.
I'm trying to listen to my stomach and only eat when I'm hungry and not because I 'have' to.

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Eating 100% on plan, CREDIT moi, included lunch with friends where I ordered blackened fish even though their Grilled Ruben is known to be superb. Had a green salad substitute for fried onion rings - another favorite. The fish came in a bun that was whole wheat and delicious so I ate it with the fish. I took no tartar sauce even as the guy sitting next to me had a huge portion with his fish and chips. The place where we have lunch has stopped serving baskets of bread with butter before the meal is served for which I'm grateful. I'm OK with ignoring bread unless everyone is having bread while we're chatting and them my hands seem to serve me as if under zombi control. Scale jiggle was down a pound this morning despite a restaurant lunch - I do like the little victories.

Walking, CREDIT moi, was minor. It was, again, bitter cold. It's 22 F cold outside right now. Welcome Spring! The Boston Globe ran a feature yesterday of the athletic directors at local schools frantically trying to clear their playing fields so that spring games could commence. I dropped off my contribution to my income tax returns; now our accountant turns the crank and the forms are electronically filled. CREDIT moi for doing what has to be done. I won't be around guaranteed Internet access this weekend - see you Monday.

onebyone – Kudos for controlled eating when the food was FREE at your Toronto Raptors basketball game (and Congrats on your team's win). Interesting that a sweet meat soup isn't your thing, but neat that your market provided the whole package so that you knew you'd done the recipe correctly.

Joy (gardenerjoy) – Demolish day is so much fun - presuming that you have another bathroom for the duration.

nationalparker – Ouch for a "so so" movie; I might still have to see it to pay tribute to Maggie Smith. LOL at "the flat electronic beast" - may it show you respect.

p.a. - Yay for clay to begin a new project. Kudos for checking the menu online before going to lunch.

Ani (dailypractice) - Yep, giving ourselves credit does seem to work miracles. This is the only place in life that tolerates those credits that real-life friends would find boring (if not weird) like, I stopped tasting from the slow cooker after only a few. So, Kudos for being aware that you were tasting while standing.

Readers -

Quote:

day 33Eliminate Emotional Eating

Use Mindset Techniques
Apply the same kind of thinking techniques you previously learned to combat emotional eating: . . .

.....Stand firm. Tell yourself you're absolutely not going to eat just because you're distressed. Remind yourself that you don't want to strengthen your giving-in muscle and weaken your resistance muscle by straying from your food plan. Think about how eating at this point will undermine your confidence in your ability to stick with your diet.

dailypractice- you are doing great! if you google eating well quinoa lasagna, thats the recipe i used- i'm not good at doing links!maryann-thanks for the recent comments on dealing with depression,anxiety- i like the idea of looking at small chunks of the day. you are always such an inspiration and i do so enjoy reading your observations.

{+}Made it through a meeting with a tray of good/bad choices. I stuck to the good (fruit slices). And it didn’t feel excrutiating. Walking in with resolve and “no if’s and’s or but’s worked.

{+}Reread advantages, recorded weight, walked 4.2miles, ate sitting.

{-} My bf came out of the bank bringing me a treat of 2 TINY dinner mints. They were so small, would have ZERO impact on actual weight loss and a “normal” person would say I was being ridiculous to even mention them. BUT. By eating them, I went against my A#1 advantage: This is a PROMISE I made to myself. This is what I think of as a “spiritual practice” that I do not treat blithely. It is important. So, for those reasons, I DO write it down. I DO think about it. Otherwise it can become a tip of the iceberg.

And this wanting to be appreciative of gifts from others. That’s a tough one for me (and others too, it sounds like from reading Beck). Someone gives you a “gift” and it’s a challenge to respond with grace and kindness. As I say “normal” people argue that since it’s tiny, it doesn’t count. Too hard to explain why it DOES count at this PROMISE level.

I just thought of a reply I HAVE used in the past and had forgotten, it works for the piece of pie your hostess insists you take. “Ohhhhhhh It looks so delicious. I’m full now, but I’m going to wrap it up and take it home and save it for a very special treat later”

So I’m working on that … any ideas from others would be appreciated.

Onebyone: Kudos for all the experimentation you’re doing with novel foods. You’re a good example for me. And good job on holding your own amidst all the give away food … that’s a tough situation and you faced it with laudable moderation.

GardenerJoy: Congrats for sticking to all the basics: reading your advantages, staying 100%OP on food, getting exercise and recording weight. All great habits. You talk about an emotional attachment to afternoon snacks. Saying “I can go hungry all morning and channel it into energy for my projects, but in the late afternoon, I'm afraid things might go really haywire if I don't have a planned snack”. Me too! But for me, at 4pm, it’s more PHYSICAL than emotional. It really HAS been several hours since the last meal. Like you, it helps me to schedule a snack. If instead I try to grit my teeth and white knuckle it, I fail and make a poor choice or worse: a very large poor choice. LOL.

P/A You used some great strategies that’ll be really helpful for me to keep in mind. Great idea to plan ahead by looking at a restaurant menu online and having a plan in place and then preplanning to adjust other meals accordingly. And USING your pedometer to get a GOOD feeling about how many steps you get while shopping. I HAVE a great pedometer app on my phone but rarely use it. Note to self: use it today. Another good idea: to have a project to keep your hands busy at “trouble” times of day. Thanks for the idea. And kudos for listening to your stomach only when it says “I’m hungry” vs. all the other times.

Nationalparker: That’s great that you took the time to check in at this forum even while away from the computer you usually use. Good stretching! You mention Italy. I’m going to Rome and Venice for 9 days in April. I was already thinking: “I won’t be done with the 42 days of Beck yet. How will I keep up? Will I? Or will I forget all about it while gone?” I don’t want to lose the momentum, yet it’ll be tough. But wait! We are renting apartments with kitchens both places. I could make it a FUN project to prepare wonderful, fresh, healthy Italian dishes with beautiful foods I buy at open air markets. Yes. It’s sounding DOABLE.

Bill: Kudos on staying on plan when facing a “supurb” Rueben. (one of my nemesises… or is it nemesi? Wiki says the plural is nemeses… a word I definitely need to know how to spell in plural since I have more than one). Kudos too substituting the salad for a favorite choice. Oh, restaurant meals with friends who eat freely. That IS tough. But you held solid! And I like what you say about “normal people finding all these kudos we give ourselves weird. ” Yes. They don’t get it. So I don’t share this journey with “normal” people, just my new Beck coaches that I am so fortunate to have found.

Day 5: Eat Slowly and Mindfully
Darn. This was yesterday's task. But I didn't do it AT ALL. I forgot to read what the task for day 5 was until just now. So, TODAY, I'll focus on this. And I definitely NEED this one. I don't do well on eating slowly. I usually eat fast. Slowing down is a tough challenge. What HAS helped a little is to have water with my meal instead of a sugary drink. Drinking the water introduces a pause with "something" to do.

Do any of you have trouble eating slowly? Any strategies to share?

Today's task is choosing a diet coach. Thankfully, I've got that taken care of with you all, my Beck coaches. I'm really looking forward to walking the Beck path with you all this time. Versus last time, I was totally on my own. I made it that way, but I can already see the benefits (not to mention the friendliness) of sharing the path.

curlyJax Thanks for pointing the way to the quinoa lasagna. I found it. It looks delicious.

DailyPractice, I wanted to shoot this your way - my tip (not that you asked but I have to pop in on Italy love) would be to just immerse yourself into the italian trattorias, and enjoy their food with their preparation style - healthy, fresh, natural ingredients, etc. you'll do so much walking, I wouldn't worry at ALL about calories gained over there. I've always returned with a weight loss, even with enjoying more pizza and gelato than I'd planned. (seriously, I had their pizza margherita more than a few times and on back-to-back meals - uncomparable to pizza I can find here - such a thin crust bc of the different flour) ... I went to PM you but I can't (maybe not enough posts?), but anyway my "vote" ha ha would be to just savor it all, then return home with recipe ideas along with great memories. Some days we walked 12 miles or more, so it all evened out. Have a WONDERFUL time. I am envious. This is the only thing I ever envy folks - their trips to Italy - ha ha!

I really wanted to overeat late yesterday afternoon. I now know that's a symptom of fatigue but I still don't have really great tools for handling it. I got to bed earlier last night, so that should help today. I'll aim for even earlier tonight because this is clearly going to be an issue with allergy season and a renovation project coming in right on top of each other.

dailypractice: I finally mastered eating slowly, just in the last few months. What worked for me was putting my fork (or sandwich or chopsticks) down between bites. I wasn't even aware that I was preparing the next bite while consuming the last. I resisted the put-your-fork-down idea for years. When I finally tried it, it became a habit almost instantly. Meals are slower, I taste my food more (even while reading or watching TV), and the longer break is good for me -- a big motivator of my overeating in the past was to take a break from my day, so it makes sense for me take as long as possible with my planned meals and snacks.

curlyjax: Sorry for your bad news. Let us know if we can be a sounding board. There are moments when perfect strangers make perfect friends -- we can be caring while not being personally involved. Take care of yourself at this time.

Down with an ear infection. Spent all afternoon convincing myself I could NOT do my Friday fast because I have to eat with medication. But guess what, I had my smoothie as planned with med and I feel fine. Funny I use every opportunity to slip out of commitment in regards to food discipline. Ironic that I am such a stickler for commitment verging on compulsively over responsible in every other area of my life.

Some good news. Report back from mom about finances. Since January's economic summit, she has re-fied her house, petitioned for more SS money and cashed out an annuity. She is sticking to living on cash for the month not credit. All this without me having to take any action against leech brothers. We will meet about finances again in May to look at new numbers. Hurray for not having to eat over this, for avoiding family resentments, for continuing to ask with every situation "What would I need to change about me in this situation?" rather than just eating at anyone I resent.

dailypractice: May I ask what was in slow cooker. I am always intereted in a new slow cooker recipe.

nationalparker: It is funny how engaging in pressing matters takes the place of thinking about food. But then, that is what Beck says. We need to jump into life and not think about the pantry.

BBE: Have a good Weekend.

onebyone: I have a new favorite container for juice travel - a mason jar. I can't tell you how many spills with other containers I have had.

gardenerjoy: For me it is the morning snack I cling to for dear life. And yet on my fast days I have survived. It is good to hear everybody talking about personal views on snacks.

flnu: Do you stick to just three meals nothing in between? What are the advantages for you.

p.a.: What a foreign thought to me. Eat only when I am hungry. Since I have given up wheat, I never seem to be hungry and yet I am still eating. There is a lot of work for me to do on this idea still.

Maryann do you fast every Friday? If you do can I ask why? Just curious
Gardener joy I try to put my fork down but most days I forget.
Daily practice I also keep knitting near me,,,I'm a terrible knitter there is a ton of mistakes in my 'scarf' and I use that term loosely but it's my go to when I'm bored and want to eat

Back to snow tomorrow, I hope it's not too bad I'm loving this spring weather we are having.

What great reassurance I feel reading the posts from such a lovely group of like-minded souls, thank you to everyone. Learning all the time and the practical tips picked up will help me. Been going pretty well but last few days (3) certainly given in to temptation. Have started re reading the book to cement the strategies.
Credit though as have not broken my fasting, have mostly remembered to eat sitting down and using balsamic on salads rather than delicious dressings...have logged every single food item no matter what

Not been exercising but was really dropping weight following calorie restriction (before the last 3 days of course) so my over confidence fed my giving in muscle.

Credit to not giving up, so thanks I do find that checking in here is supportive. Thanks everyone

Oh, no - I feel for you folks who are getting even more snow! Spring should come to all at some point ... except for those of you where it's turning autumn - ForMyGirls - and GosfordGirl - was thinking of you both this week.

My day started out well foodwise - smoothie with banana and some pineapple ... bypassed the fresh bakery cake donuts with frosting - all flavors. I opened the box to see what I was skipping - it was set a cube away from me. Lunch was still okay ... then dinner went off the rails for no reasons other than I was missing my folks and I went hunting for something to fill my emptiness. I snacked before DH got home and we treated ourselves and I picked up a pizza from a place in a small town next to us - it's non-greasy and very tasty - just cheese. I ate too much, but not as much as I wanted. I started to beat myself up about it and then thought - it's DONE. My week has been a good one and if I have one meal that is too large - well, one meal and an extra 250 calories of snacks I can regroup.

KarenRN - How are the hikes and hiking plans going? I'm looking forward to getting more stuff nailed down for our Prince Edward Island/Nova Scotia camping. I want to run through some old Backpackers and jot down good camping recipes.

GardenerJoy and Lexxiss - I need to adopt some of your practices that seem like bedrock now. I notice that I'm thinking just about LOSING weight not as much about HOW, which is what I need to get back to with Beck.

Maryann - Hope you are able to knock out the ear infection with a minimum of pain. Ear pain goes right through you, it seems.

DailyPractice - I used to get on my dad to be a gracious recipient ... he'd say, "Now WHY did you go and do that?" whenever you'd surprise him with something good ... I struggle with it at times and am trying to get better myself.

Posting now and will continue personals tomorrow. Here's to a good weekend for all!

A quick note before bed. I had a great day teaching someone how to make a linocut print today. I have organized a print exchange and I am on pins and needles hoping we get enough participants. But I'm not waiting for it to fail, I am taking action and trying to persuade those who have never printed to try it. We carved one block together, then she did her own and I did my own and we each made the required 6 prints of each block plus two more. Very awesome.(picture attached) And not once did I think about food and eating. Not once. But then when I had to go get DH from work we stopped at the grocery store and he had to pull me by the hand away from EVERYTHING. I am a sucker for 50%/reduced things and this store always has reduced stuff. Credit, big credit, for not having anything like that come home with us from the store. I settle for a banana as am emergency food thing. Which was fine. Also credit for juicing my kale again! Green juice once more and some left for tomorrow.Really though, as I held the pkg of food not good for me in the grocery store I actually took a minute and imagined how it would stall me and prevent a drop in weight come Monday when I weigh in. Now I haven't been perfect this week but that food wold have stalled me, maybe shot me back up.

gardenerjoy: I did like the chayote squash. But remember it was boiled, In soup. I'd try it again though. It seems very mild.
maryann: I cannot believe you wrote this because I, as well, live it--

Quote:

Funny I use every opportunity to slip out of commitment in regards to food discipline. Ironic that I am such a stickler for commitment verging on compulsively over responsible in every other area of my life.

THANK YOU. Much to ponder for me here.

dailypractice: You were asking about food gifts --

Quote:

Someone gives you a “gift” and it’s a challenge to respond with grace and kindness.

I have an upstairs neighbour.. She is a war refugee from Syria. She's a sweetheart and she comes knocking at my door, oh,m 2-3x a week with food. The last time she brought it to me on a silver tray! A bowl of salad, some rice with saffron and almonds and raisins, and something else-oh some shell shaped sweets of some sort. This last time I overate on the rice but she caught me when I was STARVING having skipped breakfast and worked all morning. I enjoy her salad very much and encourage her to bring me that! And the sweets, well from what I can tell we have very different tastes so they no longer tempt me. I tell her my DH and I loved them and I throw away what I don't eat. I debated asking her to stop and decided I wouldn't do that. She only gives me food from her culture. She wants me to see what they like, she is sharing with me. I graciously accept her offer but on my end, when my door is closed I get to choose, and I do without guilt. It's taken a while to come to this state with it. ON my side I have brought them pies at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and Christmas gifts even though they are not Christan. She brings me her kind of thing on her culturally significant days as well. As I said, we exchange. When they got their first homemade apple pie they were amazed by the exotic flavouring. What did you pout int it? she asked. Just cinnamon I said and she almost gasped. She thought i was a genius! Super exotic to her and her family! It makes me smile I tell you.